DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle softball team got an outstanding pitching performance from Robi Zimmerman and timely hitting to earn a 3-2 win over Mobile in the Eagles' season opener Friday night at the ERAU Softball Stadium.
 
The Blue and Gold move to 1-0, while the Rams fall to 1-2.
 
Zimmerman hurled a complete game, baffling the Mobile hitters for seven innings. The sophomore scattered seven hits, allowing two unearned runs and striking out three with no walks.
 
Dee Espinosa went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored, while Sarah Huey was 1-for-2 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI. Samantha Smith finished 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
 
Alyssa Kornegay took the loss, falling to 0-2 on the season. Kornegay pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out five and walking three.
 
Ashley Middleton went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and a run scored, while Emily Vickrey finished 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
 
Embry-Riddle opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the third. Espinosa opened the inning with a leadoff double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Talia Barraco. Sarah Huey drew a walk to put runners on the corners; two batters later Jessica Osteen drove in Espinosa with a base hit through the left side of the infield. Smith then made it 2-0 with an RBI double to left field, scoring Huey.
 
After the Rams scored a run in the fourth, ERAU came back to restore the two-run lead with a Huey RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.
 
Neither team threatened until the top of the seventh, when Mobile took advantage of an error to score a run that trimmed the lead to one run. Vickrey launched a two-out triple down the right field line, scoring Anna Blake Barnette to make it a 3-2 game. With Vickrey at third base, representing the potential tying run, Zimmerman induced a lazy fly ball to left field off the bat of Jessica Rogers to end the game.
 
The Eagles return to action tomorrow (Feb. 8) to play an exhibition game against Daytona State College at 2 p.m. as part of the Embry-Riddle Tournament. The tournament schedule has been updated to include just three games tomorrow, due to the forecast of inclement weather. Mobile will play Southeastern at 10 a.m. followed by Mobile vs. Georgia Gwinnett at noon and then ERAU-DSC at 2 p.m.